The present disclosure relates generally to alarm management in medical devices, and in particular to a system and method for improving the clinical significance of alarms.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Alarm management in medical facilities is drawing attention as an important aspect of medical care. Alarms are generated by many types of medical devices, including monitoring devices (for example, capnography monitors, pulse oximeters, heart rate monitors, and others) and therapeutic devices (for example, ventilators, infusion pumps, and others). These medical devices generate alarms based on patient conditions, device status, and stored alarm algorithms. The purpose of these alarms is to alert caregivers when the patient's condition may be deteriorating, in case medical intervention is needed, or when the medical device may not be operating properly.
Nuisance alarms—alarms that do not correspond to a clinically significant event—are becoming an increasingly serious concern in many medical facilities. Nuisance alarms may be caused by false readings by the medical equipment, or by conservative or sub-optimal alarm algorithms that trigger when the patient's physiologic condition has not changed in a significant way. Nuisance alarms detract from the quality of medical care by disrupting patients, distracting clinicians, and contributing to alarm fatigue. When a caregiver suffers from alarm fatigue due to exposure to a high number of nuisance alarms, the risk increases that the caregiver becomes de-sensitized to alarms, thereby inadvertently ignoring or missing a true alarm event.